Combustion apparatus



Nov. 25, 1941. w, MlLLER ET AL 2,263,737

COMBUSTION APPARATUS Filed 0st,. 14, 1959 INVENTOR. JOHN m M/. 1. 8

Patented Nov. 25,2194! John W. Miller andVaughn H. Hill, Lansing,

Mich assignors to Motor Wheel Corporation, Lansing, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application October r4, 19:9, Serial'No. 499,4?

.4 Claims.

This invention .;relates to combustion apparatus of the vaporizing pot type, and resides primarily in the construction and arrangement of the parts of the burner proper. v

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a burner for apparatus of the character mentioned above which will produce a clean and stable fire throughout substantially its entire range of operation, thatis to say, at

various rates of oil consumption. This object is attained by introducing part of the primary air to the burner through spaced air inlet openings formed in the side wall of the burner and the remainder through s'paced air inlet openings formed inan air tube disposed centrally of the burner; and by associating a series of battle rings with the central air tube which extend radially outwardly therefrom toward the side wall of the burner. The peripheries of the baiile .rings terminate short of the side wall of the burner and are all positioned below the lowermost primary air inlet openings formed in the side wall of the humor. 1

By this construction and arrangement of parts eddy currents are substantially eliminated in the lower part of the burner and the premixture of air and oil vapors produced during the operation of the burner at its higher stages is delivered to the upper part'of the burner adjacent the side walls thereof, rather than in the center thereof, as in conventional constructions. As a consequence, clean and stable combustion is" produced throughout substantially the entire range of operation.

Other objects more or less ancillary and incidental-to the, foregoing will become apparent from a reading of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein-- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a space heater embodying the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1.

The space heater shown in Figure 1 includes a cylindrical casing l closed at its upper extremity by a topwall H and supported at its lower ex- The upper portion of the casing It forms a combustion chamber l5 and a lower portion forms an air compartment I6 adapted to receive a burner IT. The; present invention, as prearrangement ofthe burner parts, and these will be described in detail presently.

Access is had to thecombustion chamber I5 through a door [8 opening in the front. thereof. The door l6 also serves to provide means for introducing a lighted taper into the apparatus ,to initially ignite the oil. The products of .com-

bustion are withdrawn from the combustion chamber 15 through a flue outlet l9 having one end associated with the upper portion of the combustion chamber l5 and its other end communicating with a chimney 20. The flue out- .let I! is preferably provided, as shown, with an automatic draft regulator 2| whereby to main tain a constant draft on the apparatus. It will of course be apparent that the air compartment l6, in which the burner I1 is located; is open to the atmosphere by reason of the supporting straps i2 and I3 previously mentioned.

The burner I1 includes a bottom wall 22, a

' side wall 23; a top wall 24, an anti-explosion baflle 25. a central air tube 26, and a plurality of vertically spaced apart baiiie rings 21 extending radially outwardly from the central air tube 26.

The top wall 24 is provided with a large central opening 24a. The side wall 23 of the burner I1 is formed adjacent its upper extremity to provide a radially outwardly extending annular rib 28 and a radially inwardly extending annular r-ib 29 therebelow. Thetop wall 24 is supported upon the radially inwardly extending annular rib 29: The anti-explosion baffle 25 is positioned .tremity by a pair of crossed supporting straps above and supported by the top wall 24. The bottom wall 22 is provided with a central opening with which is associated the central air tube 26. The latter is closed at, its upper extremity and open to the'atmosphere at its lower extremity.

Air is supplied to the apparatus through primary and secondary air inlet openings. The primary air inlet openings are arranged in two groups. One group is formed in the side wall 23 of the burner below the top wall 24 and-consists of a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal rows of openings 30, the openings in each row being spacedcircumferentially. The other group is formed in the side of the central air tube 26' and consists of a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal rows of openings 3|, the openings in each row being spaced circumferentially.

The air inlet openings 3| formed in the side of the ,central air tube 26 are arranged with 'respect to the bafiie'rings 21 so that there are two viously stated, resides in the' construction and rows ofopenings below the lowest baiiie ring and jacent baflle rings. t

The secondary air inlet openings 32 are formed pair of adin the side wall 23 of the burner above the top wall 24 and below the anti-explosion baffle 25. They are located in the lowerleg of the radially outwardly extending annular rib 28 whereby the air admitted therethrough is directed inwardly and upwardly. The anti-explosion baflle 25 and the secondary air inlet openings 32 are constructed and arranged with the axis of the openings intersecting the horizontal plane of .the baflle whereby the air admitted through the secondary air inlet openings impinges against the baflle.

All of the primary and secondary air inlet openings are in communication with the lower part of the casing forming the air compartment I6 and through it with the atmosphere. Consequently, both the primary and secondary'air is drawn into the apparatus by means of the draft communicated to the apparatus from the chimney. By reason of the fact that the peripheries of the bafile rings 21 associated with the central air tube 26 are located below all of the primary air inlet openings 30 formed in the side wall 23 of the burner, the air from the primary air inlet openings 3| formed in the side of the central air tube 26 is directed toward the side wall 23 of the burner at a level below the level of the primary I air inlet openings 30 formed in the side wall of the burner. Preferably, the size and number of the air inlet openings are such that a greater volume of air is admitted to the apparatus through the primary air inlet openings 30 and 3| than through the secondary air inlet openings 32.

Provision is made for supplying oil to the'burner in regulatable quantities from a source of supply not shown through a supply pipe, 33 with which there is associated a conventional regulating valve 34. As shown, the bottom Wall 22 of the burner is formed to provide a well or sump 35 into which the oil flows from the supply pipe 33.

To facilitate mounting the burner I1 within the casing ID, the latter is provided with a radially inwardly extending annular shoulder 36 be tween the upper and lower portions of the casing.

The burner is mounted within the casing with the radially outwardly extending burner rib 28 engaging the radially inwardly extending casing rib 36, and is secured in that position by means of a plurality of adjustable screw elements 31 threadedly mounted in the straps I2 and I3 and the free' extremities of which engage the bottom of the burner. The straps I2 and I3 are secured to the inturned flange 38 at the lower extremity of the casing I by means of bolts 39.

The operation of the combustion apparatus herein shown and described is as follows:

The valve is opened and oil flows into the burner. The oil is ignited by inserting a match or lighted taper through the door and dropping it onto the bottom of the burner. Initially, and so long as oil is admitted to the burner in limited quantities only, combustion will occur in the lower part of the apparatus below the baflle rings. As the rate of flow of oil is increased the zone in which combustion is initiated rises Within the apparatus until at the maximum flow of oil the lower limit of the zone of combustion will be calized adjacent the top of the burner in the region of the centralopening in the top wall. The anti-explosion baflle prevents the lower limit of the zone of combustion from rising above that point in a well lrnown'man'ner, thereby eliminating thepossibility of explosions. As is well known; it is an inherent characteristic of the present apparatus that the lower limit of v the zone of combustion may be localized at substantially any desired point between the bottom of the burner and the top of the burner by proper adjustment of the regulating valve.

When combustion is located in the lower part of the burner, the bafile rings prevent theforma- 'tion of eddy currents which otherwise would interfere with the stability, and therefore, with 'the cleanliness of the burner. of operation, the premixture of oil vapors and air produced in the lower part of the burner is delivered to the upper part adjacent the side walls thereof whereby until the highest stage of operation is reached the lower limitof combustion is.

localized in the region of the side wall of the burner. This assures direct radiation of heat to the bottom of the burner, and also conduction of the heat to the bottom of the burner through the side wall to an extent sufficient to maintain adequate vaporization of oil.

It will, of course, .be understood that at the higher stages of operation objectionable eddy currents which would interfere with stability of operation are prevented by the top wall.

The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Combustionapparatus comprising a burner of the vaporizing pot type having a bottom wall with a central aperture therein and a side wall with a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced apart air inlet openings therein at a substantial distance above the bottom wall; an upstanding tube within the burner, said tube being closed at its upper end and having an open lower end communicating with the aperture in the bottom wall of the burner, said tube having a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced apart air inlet openings formed therein, and a battle ring surrounding the tube and engaging the side thereof above the uppermost of the air inlet openings therein, the periphery of said bafile ring being spaced from the burner side wall and po sitioned below the lowermost air inlet openings in the burner side wall.

2. Combustion apparatus comprising a burner of the vaporizing pot type having a bottom wall witha central aperture therein, and a side wall with a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced apart air inlet openings therein at a substantial distance above the bottom wall; an upstanding tube within the burner, said tube being closed at its upper end and having an open lower end communicating with the aperture in the bottom wall of the burner, said tube having a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced air inlet openings formed therein, and-a plurality of vertically spaced bafile rings surrounding the tube and engaging the side thereof, said baflle rings being spaced apart sufficiently to include some of the last mentioned air inlet openings between them the uppermost bafile ring being above the uppermost opening in the tube, the peripheries of said ballie rings being spaced from the burner side wall and positioned below the lowermost air inlet openings in the burner side wall.

3. Combustion apparatus comprising a burner of the vaporizing pot type having a bottom wall Witha central aperture therein and a side wall with a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced apart air inlet openings therein at a substan- In the higher stages burner side wall, and a top wall for the burner,

said top wall having a large central aperture therein and located below the topmost air inlet openings in the burner side wall.

4. Combustion apparatus comprising a burner 01 the vaporizing pot type having a bottom wall with a central aperture therein, and a side wall with a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced apart air inlet openings therein at a substantial distance above the bottom wall; an upstanding tube within the burner, said tube being closed at its upper end and having an open lower end communicating with the aperture in the bottom wall of the burner, said tube having a plurality or vertically and horizontally spaced apart air inlet openings formed therein, and a downwardly diverging irusto-conical baffle ring surrounding the tube and'engaging the side thereof above the uppermost of the air inlet openings therein, the periphery of said baiiie ring being spaced from the burner side wall and positioned below the lowermost air inlet openings in the burner side wall.

I JOHN W. MILLER. VAUGHN H. HILL; 

